ABC Drabble
by SailorVegeta13
Summary: When I run out of ideas, I start with A and end with Z. That's how I ended up with these: random, non-connected oneshots and drabbles with no real plots but lots of fluff. Kishigo, Pai x Lettuce, Pudding x Taruto, Mint x Ryou, Zakuro x Keiichiro.
1. Alien

_A/N: So, here's the first in a series of ABC one-shots. Hope I don't bore you to death. (Don't worry, I'll update Another World soon. If you have ideas for either, PLEASE__ PM me. Thanks!)  
_

Alien

The redheaded teenage girl hummed happily as she skipped down the street, temporarily forgetting the heavy bags in her arms. She really hated it when Shirogane made her go buy groceries, but she did enjoy getting a break from the more _annoying_ aspects of her job. Cafe Mew Mew was doing extremely well, as always, and Momomiya Ichigo did _not_ enjoy trying to single-handedly serve a cafe full of customers. Sure, Pudding and Lettuce tried to help, but they really just made more work. And on top of all that hard work, she still had to_—_

Suddenly a little pink ball of fluff detached itself from Ichigo's just-as-pink cell phone_—_destroying its disguise as a charm_—_and grew to full size. Masha began flapping his little dark-pink wings, chirping urgently, "Ichigo, Ichigo! Alien!"

The leader of the Mew Mews sighed. _Again? But then, come to think of it...He hasn't been attacking recently,_ she mused._ How long has it been, three days? That's gotta be a first._

She glanced at Masha and started running, dropping the groceries. (Shirogane would be furious, but taking care of the Chimera Animals was more important than maintaining customer satisfaction_—_and it was easier, too.)

A certain green-haired alien ducked behind a tree and cursed. She'd almost caught him. Damn that pink furball. After nearly three days of remaining undetected as he stalked the object of his inexplicable obsession, it had to happen. He'd been caught.

_No, not quite yet. She didn't actually see me...the game's not up yet,_ he reflected.

But now he had to go to all the trouble of creating a Chimera Animal, because that's what she would expect.

And he hated to disappoint her.

"Ready or not, Koneko-chan, here I come," muttered Ikisatashi Kisshu as he teleported elsewhere.

_A/N: Hated it? Loved it? Review please, and remember, ideas are always welcome!_


	2. Blackmail

Blackmail

"Kisshu! Step away from her _now_."

"Sorry, don't think I will, Koneko-chan."

That infuriatingly cocky alien. Of course he had to crash their all-girls slumber party!

Ichigo didn't really feel like playing Twenty Questions, so she got right to the point. "What do you want now?"

The green-haired gatecrasher just pouted. "That's not very nice. Aren't you even going to say hi?"

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Is there a point to this line of questioning?"

"I'm not going to answer your questions until you say hello properly," sing-songed the teenage boy.

"Konbanwa. What do you want?" Ichigo repeated impatiently.

He sighed. "I guess that's as good as I'm going to get, so I'll just get straight to the point."

"Finally," muttered the irritated cat-girl. "Well?"

"All right then. Koneko-chan, I want you to be mine."

If looks could kill, Kisshu wouldn't ever be asking that question again_—_no, wait, he'd have been long dead and buried.

The insufferable teen alien chuckled. "No? Then I'll just have to_—_" Slowly moving his Dragon Sword closer to Lettuce's throat, Kisshu waited for the protest that was sure to follow.

"W-wait!"

Ichigo mentally cursed, sizing up the situation. All the other Mews were unconscious. Aoyama-kun was out of town, and he had been pretty cold recently anyway. Shirogane and Akasaka-san were presumably at the cafe.

She was on her own, alone with Kisshu_—_who was threatening to kill one of her best friends.

_Think, Ichigo, think!_

"Okay," she whispered, dark hair falling in front of her face.

"What?"

Kisshu was astonished. Since when did Ichigo agree so easily? The fact that he held one of her best friends hostage might have had something to do with it, but...

Oh. It suddenly hit him. _Her friends' lives mean more to her than her own. She'd rather die than be with me, but she just can't sacrifice her friends like that._ A wicked grin found its way onto his face as he realized he finally had a way to make her obey him.

Letting Lettuce slide to the ground, Kisshu teleported behind his favorite toy to wrap his arms around her and teleport.

"At last," he murmured in her ear.

She shivered. What had she gotten herself into?

_A/N: I didn't really realize until I finished that the title doesn't really fit the oneshot. But I had the next one already prepared, so I wanted to just finish this one._


	3. Colors

Colors

"It's _green_. That's what Kino-sensei _said_! Stop being so stubborn!" whined the six-year-old girl.

"Okay, fine." Kisshu held his hands up in surrender. "My hair is green. So what, Koneko-chan?"

At this question, the one she'd clearly wanted to be asked, Ichigo burst into a fit of giggles. The green-haired boy thought she looked like a princess: gorgeous short ruby locks, long eyelashes, snow floating down all around her.

"Well, my hair is red..." she began.

"So...?"

The redhead dropped another hint: "It's December."

"And..."

"We match!"

Kisshu just smiled.


	4. Dreams

_A/N: I've done quite a lot of Kishigo, so I figured it was high time I devoted some fanfiction to my other favorite alien/Mew Mew couples. This one is Pai x Lettuce.  
_

Dreams

Lettuce sat up in bed abruptly, blue eyes wide with shock and fear. _It's not real. Look around. See? You're in bed at home. It was just a dream. _Again she'd had that same—was it still a nightmare if nothing bad happened to her?

_Yes_, she decided. _Because bad things _do_ happen in that dr__eam. Just not to me._

How many variations of the nightmare had she woken up in the midst of? _He_ played a key role in each and every one—always as the tragic hero.

Scenes from each nightmare flashed into her head:

Pai, lying in a pool of his own blood.

Pai, slowly choking to death as the Blue Knight squeezed the life out of him.

Pai, fighting her and the other Mew Mews, gaining wounds by the second.

Forcing herself to take a deep breath, Lettuce consciously tried to slow her heartbeat. She sat in the dark for a few moments.

Was that the sound of the window opening?

...

Looking in cautiously, Pai was surprised to find that Lettuce was up and awake. She was sitting up, eyes trained on the window—_almost as if she was waiting for me_, he mused. Then he wondered where that _extremely unscientific_ thought had come from. After all, what were the chances that she dreamed about him the way he dreamed about her?

Her big eyes widened as she took in his appearance. She opened her mouth but no sound came out.

He knew what she was trying to say though. "Mew Lettuce—" he began almost involuntarily. His voice was even quieter than usual—he didn't even have the strength to teleport.

_Why is it that I can't stand the sight of her in pain? I still don't know. _Then—_Wait. Why does she look so tortured?_

"Pai-san...you're bleeding," she observed quietly, still a bit shocked. _What happened to him?_ Her heart hurt as if she were the one with a head wound.

"It's nothing," he insisted.

Lettuce kicked off her covers and stood up. "What happened?" she asked, her long white nightgown swishing around her ankles as she rummaged through a drawer.

The purple-haired alien considered possible answers slowly. He couldn't risk blowing it the way Kisshu had. His green-haired friend probably didn't have much of a chance with the leader of the Mew Mews—he kept forcing himself on her, and that was simply not how love worked.

Pai finally decided on the truth—or at least part of it. "I had a nightmare."

The green-haired girl softly closed the drawer and walked over to the window he leaned against, a long white bandage fluttering in the breeze from the open window. He looked ready to leap out at any second. "But why—?" she pressed gently when he fell silent.

He gave up on concealing the truth. Hoping it wouldn't cause her any pain or trauma, he hurried through the events that led to his presence here—in her room at night.

"Well, firstly Kisshu and Taruto decided they needed more practice. They thought that since I'm older and more powerful, a two-on-one battle would be more equal. But of course they underestimated their own strengths, and I got the worst of it.

"Then after reviewing and revising my next plan of attack—fatality rate 95.73%, by the way—I went to bed.

"Soon after, assuming that my brothers didn't sneak in and reset my clock as they did the night before April Fool's, I woke up sweating. It was likely the worst nightmare I have ever had the misfortune to experience."

"But why are you here?" Having reached him, Lettuce reached up to wrap the bandage around his head. The wound didn't seem to be as severe as it had first appeared to be.

His hand closed around her wrist. "I saw you—dead," he said. The proper terminology would have been "blurted," but Pai never blurted anything—he was too calm, too analytical. Or was he?

A moment of silence passed. When it was over, the green Mew Mew wondered, "Why do we have to fight?"

For once in his life, Pai had no good answer.

Momentarily stunned by the emotional query, his guard slipped enough for his emotions to gain the upper hand—a very rare and only temporary occasion, of course.

He couldn't resist.

He leaned down and softly pressed his lips to hers.

One second...two seconds...

The oldest of the aliens pulled away almost reluctantly. It had felt so good, so _right._

And that was why it could never be.

Taking advantage of the temporary burst of energy he'd received, he immediately teleported away before he could do anything else he would regret.

...

When Pai had gone, Lettuce looked down, her pale-green bangs obscuring her face—not that anyone was there to see it.

_He's so mysterious. So cold, and so hard to understand._

She had a feeling that, like Ichigo, she held the heart of one of the aliens.

But unlike Ichigo, she had no unhappiness over the fact that he had stolen her first kiss.

_A/N:_ _The end result was completely unplanned; this oneshot just kind of wrote itself. I think I'll do Taruto x Pudding next, unless you guys have other ideas? (Review please!)_


	5. Enemy

_A/N: As promised, this fic will be Pudding x Taruto. Unfortunately, they're not up to any mischief this time—but I think this oneshot will be satisfying in its own way.  
_

Enemy

Looking out over the sea, Pudding Fong sighed wearily. Some days she wanted to put away her Mew Mew pendant and be a normal girl again—but she knew that wasn't possible. She couldn't do it; she had to save the earth from those "evil" aliens.

"Taru-Taru's not evil, na no da," she murmured to herself.

"Do my ears deceive me? You don't think I'm evil?" snickered a brown-haired boy. His pointy ears gave him away just as much as his yellow-orange eyes and strange clothing did. He was obviously not human.

_He_ was Taruto, one of the three aliens attacking Pudding's home planet.

The monkey-girl's short blond braids swung as she vigorously shook her head.

Out of nowhere, a vivid image attacked her conscience. _No—when he threatened "people Pudding cares about," surely he didn't mean Pudding's family, na no da? No one could be that underhanded and mean, na no da._ If only she'd known...

"Taru-Taru, what are you doing here, na no da? What happened, na no da?"

The youngest of the three aliens scowled. "Don't call me that!" A sudden thought reminded him he wasn't here to argue about his nickname. "Right—they need you at home, now!"

"What? Is it your brothers, na no da?" _It has to be them, unless—No, na no da! It can't be, na no da!_

"No, it's not them. It's—" he hesitated, his eyes worried. Finally the urgency of the situation made him tell her.

"It's Yuebin—he's attacking your siblings. Sensei's already been knocked out. Pudding—"

The orange-clad girl froze. Something in his tone—foreseeing her question and attempting to deflect it—warned her.

And yet she asked it anyway: "Pudding guesses Kisshu turned Yuebin into a Chimera, na no da. Can we turn him back without Ichigo-oneechan, na no da?"

Taruto was extremely reluctant to answer. "No, he's _attacking_ them. Of his own free will."

Pudding pondered her predicament. It was her siblings, her fiance. Backup would be nice, but they couldn't leave the cafe unguarded when the aliens knew it was their headquarters.

And then again, who was to say Taruto was even telling the truth? He and his brothers _were_ attacking Earth_—_they were the enemy.

The boy seemed to read the Mew Mew's thoughts. "Don't you trust me? Pudding, we're _friends!"_

Her eyes met his, and she saw the unfakeable sincerity in them.

_Taru-Taru is my friend. He wouldn't lie to me__—_especially not about something like this.

"Well, Pudding never really liked Yuebin anyway, na no da."

She took the hand he offered, letting him teleport her to where she was needed to fight off the _true_ enemy.

_A/N: Before I get all the "corrections," let me clarify. A fiance is a man engaged to be married; a fiancee is a woman (or, in this case, girl) engaged to be married. _

_I always thought Taruto and Pudding's relationship was intriguing. They're both kids, so you get the sense that they don't really get who/what they're fighting for. And they're friends, so you start to think they don't fight each other very seriously. Then there's all that stuff in books about "Know thine enemy"__—_this is kind of like that.  



	6. Failure

_A/N: Maybe it's a little early to write another Pai x Lettuce, but I have stories completely devoted to Kishigo, and when this idea presented itself I simply could not resist__—_I thought it was perfect for this couple.

Failure

"Midorikawa-san."

The green-haired girl turned. "Hello, Ikisatashi-senpai."

Blunt as always, he got right to the point. "How did you do on your finals?"

She flushed. Ducking her head, the porpoise-girl mumbled, "I failed it pretty badly."

His black eyes were sympathetic as he asked, "Did you try your hardest?"

After some thought, she answered confidently, "Yes."

_I was so focused on my final score, but come to think of it, I_ did_ try my hardest._

"Then you did not fail."

As he walked away, her cheeks still burned—but for a completely different reason.


	7. Gold

_A/N: Sorry to anyone who's been waiting on my other stories! This one's by far easiest to write, since they're all oneshots. Thank you all so much for reading, and most of you for more!_

Gold

The redheaded middle-school student barely caught a flash of gold out the corner of her eye. She turned her attention back to her test, solving three more math problems before fully registering what she'd seen.

_Gold? In the classroom?_

Her head shot up. Quickly glancing around the classroom, she didn't see anything that was anywhere near the alluring metallic color she'd seen earlier.

Shaking off the distracting thoughts, she returned to the questions waiting on her desk.

But she couldn't forget that beautiful hue.

...

As she walked out the door, Momomiya Ichigo saw that wonderful color again. She spun around to discover that the new student, green-haired Ikisatashi Kisshu, was looking at her.

His eyes. That was what she had seen.

...

That night, she dreamed of golden eyes.


	8. Hacker

_A/N: Pai x Lettuce again.  
_

Hacker

The blonde young man sat back with a relieved sigh. He'd finally made it past Lettuce's laptop's security system.

Every time he did this—and the genius teen pursued this goal quite frequently—he told himself that it was for everyone's safety. And Ryou really _did_ suspect that Pai contacted the green-haired Mew Mew through this computer.

His real reasons were far more selfish, was all.

The owner of Cafe Mew Mew had been stealing his teammate's laptop every week for the past few months, to try and encode it so that it would deflect alien transmissions. Intellect told the blonde that if he could do this right, that infuriating purple-haired _robot_ wouldn't be sending Lettuce any more messages.

"Had any luck with that?" Keiichiro asked quietly, coming up behind his younger friend.

"Not much," admitted the Mew Project director. "I think she's onto the tampering—Pai must have done this encryption; it's too advanced for her—or anyone else, for that matter."

"Besides you." The brown-haired man smiled.

Ryou nodded. "Besides me."

...

Lettuce looked up, sensing someone behind her. She had to squint to make out the silhouette outlined against the setting sun.

The eldest alien held out his hand wordlessly.

With a smile, she handed over her laptop. "Why is it such a matter of interest to you, Pai-san? We _don't_ use it to communicate, whatever Ryou thinks."

His smile—what little there was of it—was cunning. "It is a challenge—a battle of skills and wit. And I absolutely will not lose." Fingers swiftly tapping keys, he inputted a long, complex code.

...

Swearing, Ryou punched his computer monitor.

"By your coarse language and unbecoming conduct, I would guess that you cannot bypass the new encryption?"

"Damn, Pai—you're good."

Then Ryou said something that he'd never have thought would come out of his own mouth: "I give up—you win."


	9. Ice

_A/N:This time, Pudding and Taruto_ are_ up to mischief! But the lake's caretakers aside, this particular antic might just be enough to get their friends to stop hiding certain relationships.  
_

_As a Christmas/other-holiday present to all of you, I'm going to put all my favorite TMM couples in this oneshot. Enjoy!  
_

Ice

Looking out over the lake, the two kids sighed.

"It's winter—how come there's no snow or ice or anything?" whined the boy.

The girl replied sadly, "It's not cold enough, na no da."

"We can _make_ it cold enough." Taruto's suggestion was accompanied by and met with an impish grin.

...

Pai looked over the shining ice and sighed.

"You couldn't find a satisfactory skating rink, so you decided to simply create your own," he stated. It was neither a question nor a guess—after all, Pai was always right.

"Yup," confirmed a cheerfully grinning, completely unabashed Taruto. "Besides, the lake was just a big body of cold water. This way, it's being put to good use! Come on, you know you want to—" He trailed off at the poisonous look his brother was giving him. (Well, okay—not exactly _poisonous,_ considering glaring involves some degree of emotion.)

"No" was the stern reply. "I do _not_ have the desire to go ice-skating. Neither should you—however, since I have the definite feeling you will not listen to me anyway, I leave it completely up to you." There was some more intellect-talk, which the pigtailed boy—having grown up exposed to this stuff—tuned out automatically.

"So I can go?" When Pai talked like that, it was hard to be sure whether he was actually giving you permission or not.

"Yes."

Grinning, Taruto flew off without another word.

* * *

Pudding looked over their handiwork with pride. "This ice is beautiful, na no da," she announced happily. "Pudding thinks it would be perfect for skating, na no da! Does Taru-Taru know how to skate, na no da?"

" 'Course I can skate." Her partner in crime grinned eagerly. When a thought hit him, the boy started to snicker. "Come on, let's go tell the others! I can't _wait_ to see some of them try to skate."

* * *

"Pai-san?"

The most intelligent of the three aliens looked up from his blueprints. "Yes, Lettuce-san?"

"Um..." Tucking away her cell phone carefully, the green Mew Mew didn't meet his eyes. At last she blurted, "Pudding and Taruto say they've made an ice-skating rink out of the lake. Do you want to come skating with me?"

Despite what he'd said to his brother earlier, Pai actually did secretly enjoy ice-skating. "I suppose I have nothing better to do," he mused as he attentively rolled up his papers.

"I—I mean, y-you don't h-have to if you don't w-want to," stammered the bespectacled girl, mistaking his slow words for reluctance.

Standing up, the purple-haired Ikisatashi took her hand. "I _do_ want to," he informed her calmly with just the barest hint of a smile.

* * *

"Oh, come on," coaxed the blond young man. "No one's gonna care if you can't skate. Besides, don't you think the others probably skate worse than you?"

"I _can_ skate," snapped Mint. "It's just—"

His teasing grin warned that his "genius" wit had supplied with yet another line. (Let's face it—prodigal Ryou might be, but his sense of humor was majorly screwed up.) "You're ashamed to be seen out here with me?"

Cheeks red, it took the blue-haired girl a while to come up with a retort.

"No," she bit back at last, with a triumphant grin. "Your skating would embarrass me. Remember what happened last time I skated with you?"

"Now _that's_ uncalled for," pouted her boyfriend. "I'm _trying_ to forget that particular incident, thank you very much." He was pretty touchy about that fiasco, which involved several people—some of whom had the audacity to guffaw at the blonde—and some hockey equipment.

They kept bickering, but somehow or other they both ended up on the crystalline arena.

* * *

Normally model Fujiwara Zakuro was loath to wrap up in winter clothes that inhibited motion, especially if her reason for leaving the house was to go somewhere she could end up looking undignified. The purple-haired young woman would much rather have spent the day inside.

But when your boyfriend calls and invites you out, what can you say but "yes"?

"All right, then, Keiichiro—I'll meet you there. Love you too!" Hanging up, she reached for a scarf. _I don't really like ice-skating—but I must remember to thank Pudding and Taruto for this._

* * *

"Ready, Ichigo?"

The redhead looked skeptically at the ice. "I really don't know how I let you talk me into this," she remarked ruefully. "We all know I'm not exactly what you'd call coordinated—and that's on dry land."

Of course, her companion wasn't so easily put off. (If he was, then he wouldn't be here with her in the first place.)

"Come on, don't spoil my fun," the teen whined childishly.

_Aoyama-kun...I wish you were here. You'd love this._ Unexpectedly, Ichigo felt a pang of guilt—not because she was having fun without the only boy she'd ever dated, but because here she was, next to an amazingly smooth, beautiful frozen lake with a certain green-haired boy and thinking of the person said alien hated more than anyone else in the world.

She couldn't help it—she _had_ to get that smug grin off his face. "You do know I only agreed to come with you because Aoyama-kun's in England, right?"

"Of course." Kisshu swallowed a round of insults—not aimed at the cat-girl of course, but at her boyfriend. _But he won't be your boyfriend for long, Koneko-chan,_ he consoled himself.

He held out a hand. After a moment's hesitation, Ichigo took it and let the green-haired alien pull her onto the newly-frozen lake.

* * *

And so, that cold December day, as snow drifted down and was blown into everyone's faces, the Tokyo Mew Mew gang and their boyfriends twirled and spun out on the ice, showing off the skills they'd worked so hard to perfect the previous winter.

Pudding and Taruto ran circles around everyone, their never-still, always-moving style matching their personalities. Racing around and around their self-made rink, they made all the others dizzy.

Lettuce and Pai glided past smoothly. They looked really good together—a teenage couple holding hands as they coasted easily around the edge of what was once a liquid lake. Occasionally the blue-eyed girl tripped, but the eldest Ikisatashi was always there to catch her.

Mint and Ryou seemed an unlikely couple, but both had the experience and skills to execute the difficult, showy moves they did. The lorikeet-girl was glad that her boyfriend could dance—it was, in her opinion, a very important trait in a guy. He could skate, too—which was definitely an added plus. Mint did like to show off.

Zakuro and Keiichiro were definitely the oldest out here—but they were both still young enough to prove that they could perform some of the techniques that Mint and Ryou were exhibiting flawlessly and fairly easily. Cheerfully supervising the younger pairs all around them in between impressive maneuvers, their gloved hands never separated.

Ichigo and Kisshu weren't really _together_, but they did look nice side-by-side. Her cat-like grace and his lithe, fluid movements were pleasing to watch, even if they weren't as fancy as the others'. Happily oblivious to her beloved boyfriend's _other_ girlfriend, the redhead somehow forgot about him, really loving every moment on the ice with the green-haired boy.

Five couples. One ice rink. What more is there to say?

_A/N: I wanted to save the Kishigo for last—so it'd be more or less fresh in your mind as you finished this oneshot. Hope you liked it! (And even if you didn't—well, the world didn't end, so you're around to read and dislike this fic.)  
_

_Happy holidays, everyone! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa—whatever you celebrate.  
_


	10. Jack-in-the-Box

_A/N: I think "Ice" turned out better than I expected, so this one might not be quite as good. But regardless, I hope you enjoy! It's another Pudding/Taruto, since I thought this theme suited them best. (Sorry if you were hoping for another couple.)  
_

Jack-in-the-Box

As the monkey-girl wound the handle, cheerfully bouncy music played.

_All around the cobbler's bench, the monkey chased the weasel...  
_

Louder and louder—faster and faster—higher and higher pitched—

_Pop! Goes the weasel!_

Pudding snickered, even though the face that sprang out at her was positively terrifying. (Spend too much time with Taruto, and you inevitably lose your sense of fear—and danger, and morality, for that matter. It didn't help that the blonde herself was particularly mischievous to start with.)

"So, you like it?" Though a little disappointed that he hadn't managed to scare his best friend, the brown-haired alien kid was nonetheless happy that Pudding was pleased with the birthday present he'd gotten her.

"No, Pudding doesn't like it, na no da," replied the girl seriously, dropping her grin.

Taruto's face fell. "You don't?"

Laughing at how easily he fell for _that_ one, the delighted monkey girl managed to get out, in between gasps for breath, "Pudding—_loves_—it—na no da! Thank you, Taru-Taru, na no da!"

A little embarrassed that he'd been so gullible, the orange-eyed boy was, in any case, glad to discover that she actually did appreciate his gift. "You're welcome, then."

Her current facial expression was one that her partner-in-crime was extremely familiar with. It promised mischief, trouble—and an epic time.

"So what's the plan?" Taruto asked without preamble.

_A/N: I think you can imagine what they'd do with that toy better than I can write it, so I'll leave it to your imagination. _


	11. Key

_A/N: At first this was going to be Pudding x Taruto, but then I got a Pai x Lettuce idea. Since the last one was Pudding x Taruto but there are about the same number of both pairings, this one's kind of both._

Key

"Taru-Taru, look at this, na no da!" The young blonde held out a small, simple but beautiful piece of metalwork.

The orange-eyed alien boy leaned closer. "Cool! What does it open?"

"Pudding doesn't know, na no da."

"Huh. Where'd you find it?"

"On the floor of the cafe, na no da!"

An evil grin crept over Taruto's face. "Maybe it belongs to one of your team." _Blackmail time._

...

Reaching into her desk drawer, Lettuce pulled out a small, slightly-worn book. Fingering the lock, she felt inside the drawer for the key to her diary.

Her slim digits met only air. She frowned.

The key was missing.

...

"Where do you last remember looking at or holding it?" The purple-haired Ikisatashi was concerned. If someone found his girlfriend's journal—

Suddenly his two younger brothers popped up out of nowhere.

The elder of the two had flushed cheeks and a cheeky but cheerful grin. "Hey, Pai. What's up?"

Contrastingly, the younger looked sullen and suspicious. "What's so important you had to pull me away from hard-core pranking?"

It was at this morose kid that Pai directed his first question—well, it was more of a statement, or an accusation.

"You have the key to Lettuce's journal?" (It had been months before he'd been able to drop the honorific from the green Mew Mew's name.)

_So that key Pudding found—it's Porpoise Girl's? _"What makes you think I do?" The brown-haired brat pouted. "You shouldn't accuse people without proof, you know."

"What do you want for it?" To everyone's surprise, Taruto's older brother pulled out his wallet.

The kid's orange eyes lit up. "Really?"

He hadn't noticed the look the other two boys had exchanged.

"No," deadpanned Pai as Kisshu jumped their younger brother.

...

Several swears and one long tickle war later, the alien teen had the key in his hand. "Here ya go, Pai."

The green-haired girl exhaled in relief. _That was close. If anyone read my diary—_

"Meh, it doesn't really matter." Taruto's malicious smirk and implications weren't lost on anyone.

"What?!" Pai and Lettuce both sounded concerned (to put it lightly).

A certain blonde little girl—Taruto's partner in crime—darted in. "Pudding and Taru-Taru found some really interesting stuff in Lettuce-oneechan's diary, na no da!"

The golden-eyed boy teleported away, snickering soundlessly.

After exchanging one quick, almost-panicked _look_, the older two sighed and resorted to bribery. (Crude but effective.)

_A/N: How was it? R & R please!  
_

_I'm not going to demand a certain number of reviews, but they would __definitely _motivate me to work harder to finish the next story.


	12. Lollipop

_A/N: This one will be Kishigo. Thanks for waiting! Your reviews really motivate me to get the next one out—so, here it is!_

_Happy New Year, everybody!  
_

Lollipop

One big, round, colorful circle on a stick. That's all it was, really.

So why did Ichigo feel so jealous? It was just a big piece of sugar.

_Well, for one thing, it happens to be in Kisshu's hands_, she reasoned to herself. _They say that it's really easy to be jealous of your friends. Plus, he can make anything look irresistible. I bet if he was eating a banana peel I'd want it._

Pretending not to notice his girlfriend staring at his treat, the green-haired alien teen licked away at his oversized candy. Finally he couldn't stand it any longer. "Something the matter, Koneko-chan?"

The redhead made a face. Normally she would have stuck out her tongue, too, but she didn't think that was a good idea in this case.

"N-not really," the cat-girl lied. _What's wrong with me? I don't even _like _lollipops!_

Kisshu snickered. "Sure. And that's totally why you've been staring at my lollipop for the past ten minutes."

He held out his free hand, making an identical sugar-circle-on-a-stick appear in his palm. "Here."

"Thanks." Ichigo closed her eyes as she licked the candy.

Even though she usually hated lollipops, this one tasted amazing.

_A/N: ...and_ that_ would be my weird sense of humor and romance hard at work. Review please!_


	13. Manga

_A/N: I want to thank all my readers/reviewers, especially Sonicxminagirl, kisshuismylife, and hungergamesawesomness. You should thank them too—if they didn't review every chapter, I'd update much less frequently!_

Manga

"What book is that, Lettuce?" Ryou asked the green Mew Mew. The blonde had to speak rather loudly to be heard over the rain.

The normally exceptionally polite girl barely looked up as she told him, her voice just barely audible over the loud downpour, "_Ouran Highschool Host Club_."

"You're reading _Ouran HSHC_?" Her teammates had come in just in time for Ichigo to make this comment. Her red hair was dripping into her eyes; impatiently she shook it out of her face as she remarked, "You don't really seem like the type."

Lettuce smiled, not offended by a judgment she'd already heard several times. "I like seeing all the different places they pick outfits from. Plus, I really like Mori-senpai..." _Actually, it's not so much that I like him as he reminds me of someone._ Her pale cheeks flushed as she thought of a certain alien_—_stoic, intelligent, and_—_it seemed to her_—_much lonelier than he let on.

"That makes sense." Zakuro broke the silence. After the Mew Mews had come to a resolution with the aliens, the gorgeous supermodel had become a bit less reserved_—_much to Mint's delight.

"I agree, Onee-sama!" chirped the lorikeet-girl.

"My goodness, you girls are all wet," observed Keiichiro as he came in with an armload of warm, dry blankets. They were different colors_—_pink, blue, green, yellow, and purple_—_that corresponded with one of the girls.

...

The other four girls soon returned from the changing rooms, now wearing their work uniforms. Even though they didn't expect any customers_—_the Café was open, but the pouring rain totally discouraged being out and about_—_at least their clothes were dry.

"Well, at least we're dry and _more or less_ warm," sighed Ichigo as another hour passed without any customers. Shivering, the redhead curled up in a corner and opened a book.

"What are you reading, na no da?" Pudding inquired idly.

"_Fruits Basket_," the cat-girl answered dreamily without raising her eyes. Though she'd never admit it, one reason she liked Kyo Sohma_—_other than the fact that he was a hot cat-boy_—_was that he reminded her of a certain passionate, hot-tempered boy.

"I'm reading _Special A_, in case anyone's interested," was Mint's demure comment. "Takishima is really cool. He's so smart and rich..." The blue-haired girl barely managed to _not_ look at Ryou.

"Pudding has some manga too, na no da!"

"What manga?" The monkey-girl's purple-haired teammate threw her a lifeline when no one else answered.

_"Death Note,_ na no da!"

_Now_ the petite blonde had everyone's attention.

"Isn't that a little_—__dark_?" Ryou pointed out, having just finished reading it himself.

The Café door opened abruptly and three people stepped in. Due to the way the light shone overhead, all that the girls, Ryou, and Keiichiro could make out was silhouettes_—_one fairly tall, one a little above average, and one just barely taller than Pudding.

Ichigo, Lettuce, and Pudding jumped to their feet. "Welcome to Café Mew Mew!"

As the new arrivals stepped forward, the three standing Mew Mews all blinked in surprise.

"Hey, Koneko-chan. Keeping dry?" The green-haired alien boy chuckled as he caught sight of the book in the redhead's hand. "_Fruits Basket,_ huh? From what I've heard, that kid Kyo is kinda like me!"

The leader of the Mew Mews blushed and said nothing.

"_Ouran Highschool Host Club_. I have never heard of that series_—_but you seem to like it, Lettuce-san?"

"Yes, I love it," replied the porpoise-girl eagerly. "And Mori-senpai is a lot like you_—_" Turning bright red, she bit her tongue. _How could I say that? How embarrassing!_

"Whoa, _Death Note_? I've always wanted to read it, but Pai won't let me!" remarked the shortest of the three aliens.

"Taru-Taru can borrow it from Pudding, na no da!" his best friend eagerly offered, holding it out to him.

"Really? Thanks!"

...

In the end, as the three aliens left, each carried a stack of books.

_A/N: And yes, __I_ have___ read every manga that I mention here (except for Special A__—_for that one, I watched the anime instead) and I recommend each and every one of them. Review please!


	14. Note

_A/N: Kishigo, Pai x Lettuce, Pudding x Taruto, Ryou x Mint, Zakuro x Keiichiro. By the way,_ **these are boys' notes **and these are girls' notes.

Note

Big brown eyes darting left and right, checking for witnesses, Ichigo carefully folded the small piece of paper. Looking around again, she figured it was safe now.

She tossed it directly to her right, not looking at the intended recipient. A quiet chuckle from that side told her that Kisshu had, in fact, gotten her note. Hearing the scratching of his pencil, her body tensed as she impatiently waited to see his response.

Just over half a minute later—thirty-two seconds; the redhead counted each and every one of them—the folded binder paper landed on her desk. Eagerly but cautiously she opened it up, filled with anticipation.

That ecstasy was soon replaced by overwhelming dejection.

Quickly she reread the written conversation, checking for possible clues as to why he wrote the sentence he did.

**Hey Koneko-chan, I hear you have to work every day next week. Is it true?**

Yeah. Shirogane's evil. Just because he thinks he's almost found a new location with Mew Aqua doesn't mean he has to drag us in every day! :( All we'd being doing is investigating what's most likely another false lead. And then it's another series of computer tests, and more searching..._  
_

**That must suck. But at least we don't have to fight anymore, ne? ;) You gotta admit, it's great that Aoyama died before Deep Blue could be awakened.**

Don't go there. You know how much I loved him.

**But you don't anymore, do you? :O**_  
_

Course not. :P Kisshu, you know I love you—I wouldn't be going out with you if I didn't! And anyway, now I know for sure that Aoyama-kun has nothing on you.

**Man, you know how to feed a guy's ego. No wonder he was obsessed with you.**

Lol. Hey, are you busy after school today?

**Yes, and my plans can't wait for another time.**

That was it.

No explanation, no apology, no excuses.

Frowning at the note, Ichigo picked up her pencil. The tip hovered over the paper as she tried to think what to write. Finally she settled on, _With what?_

In just a few seconds, the paper was in front of her again.

**You'll see.**

She exhaled in _partial_ relief. Her boyfriend was planning something that involved her. It was hard to say whether that was good or bad—with Kisshu, you never knew what was going to happen until it did come to pass.

"Ikisatashi-san, pay attention!" reprimanded the teacher.

Ichigo glanced over to see the green-haired teen wink at her before facing front again. "Sorry, sensei."

* * *

Lettuce's blue eyes widened as she read the note her boyfriend had just handed her.

**If you are available after school today, please meet me in front of the library as soon as you can.**

**Love, Pai  
**

The closing was extremely surprising, considering the purple-haired alien was definitely not very open with his feelings.

* * *

**Hey Pudding! Meet me on the roof after school? I gotta do something first, but I'll be right there.  
**

The blonde glanced at her friend, who was staring straight ahead, apparently paying close attention to the lesson. Her gaze remained on the mischievous boy though, and at last her patience paid off when he turned to her and mouthed, _Will you come?_

She nodded eagerly.

* * *

"Keiichiro, take a look at this!" called Ryou.

His friend came over, drying his hands on a dishcloth. "What is it?" Looking over the blonde's shoulder, he scanned the brief email. "So it's finally ready? At last. I'll call Zakuro; you can tell Mint."

* * *

"So what are your 'plans that can't wait for another time'?" Ichigo asked as her boyfriend finally came up. He was hiding something behind his back.

His teasing grin immediately warned her that something was up. "By all means correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think a date is something that can wait for another time." Offering her a beautiful bouquet of roses that the green-haired boy felt had nothing on the pink Mew Mew's hair, Kisshu asked, "So, where do you want to go?"

"What about _that place_?" suggested the redhead.

"Sure." Taking his girlfriend's hand, the alien teen teleported. _All proceeds according to plan. Now, to keep her busy until tonight...  
_

* * *

"Hey, Pai," the green-haired girl shyly greeted the tall boy waiting in front of the library. (It had taken months, but they'd finally managed to drop the honorifics when addressing each other.)

"Let's go on a date," he suggested abruptly—rather out of character for him, even now. But Lettuce certainly didn't mind, and barely noticed in the first place; she was too distracted by the wild fluttering of her heart.

"Oh, yes! Do you have some place in mind?"

Though the purple-haired young man didn't smile, his eyes had a crafty glint. "Certainly I do."

* * *

"Taru-Taru, Pudding thinks you took to long, na no da," complained the monkey Mew Mew.

"Sorry. Well, let's go." He took her hand.

"Where, na no da?"

His impish grin was—not surprisingly—not at all reassuring, even for his partner in crime. "It's a surprise."

* * *

"Wow," breathed the girls, surveying the elaborate set-up on the beach. They couldn't begin to imagine what the boys had thought up this time.

Mint turned to her boyfriend. "Did you do all this?"

The blonde shook his head. "Pai did most of it, with some help from Kisshu and Taruto, and the original idea was actually Keiichiro's. I quite honestly can't claim much credit. All I really did was reserve the beach for tonight."

"But you were part of the making, and it couldn't have been done without you, Ryou!" argued the blue/black-haired girl. "You deserve as much credit as anybody."

"Hey Mint, shut up so we can enjoy the show," Kisshu suggested mildly. Though he had been careful to phrase his _request_ in a (relatively) non-offensive way, the teenager still got a punch in the arm for his trouble. Apparently the lorikeet Mew Mew had still been offended.

But in any case, everyone shut up, looking up at the sky, waiting. Pai pulled out an alien device and inputted a long, complex code.

"It has been programmed to begin in forty-five seconds."

* * *

The first _boom_ made the girls jump a little—although, all things considered, these were quieter than their human-made counterparts—but the Mew Mews soon forgot the noise as beautiful splashes of color seemed to set themselves off against the night sky.

Far superior to normal Earth fireworks, Pai's creation lingered much longer and was much more beautiful: accurate depictions of the Mew Mews, in color no less; animated battle scenes, the aliens versus the girls; tableaux of quiet scenes in the Cafe after the war was over. More like a series of photographs than traditional "fire flowers," as Lettuce liked to call them, this impressive display was accompanied by fitting music that was somehow high-quality sound and clearly audible. (_A/N: In my mind the soundtrack is "May I" by Trading Yesterday [now known as The Age of Information]; but you can imagine any song you like.)_

"This is amazing," sighed Ichigo happily, squeezing her boyfriend's hand.

"Absolutely gorgeous," agreed Lettuce. Tearing her eyes from the marvel in the sky, the green Mew Mew gave the eldest Ikisatashi a radiant smile.

"Pudding loves it, na no da!" Taruto blushed when he heard these words.

Eventually the slideshow faded away completely, but the song was still playing. Ryou pulled Mint to her feet and they started dancing; the other four couples soon followed suit.

_A/N: How was it? (Reviews are greatly appreciated but not demanded.)_


	15. Opal

_A/N: I originally wrote this topic in two parts; now I've combined them into a single oneshot._

Opal

The polished round stone, though it seemed to be a pure milky-white color, gleamed with all the colors of the rainbow—and more. Much, much more. Fujiwara Zakuro, standing alone in front of the display, would never have thought there could be so many colors in the spectrum, but here was the proof. "It's beautiful," the purple-haired supermodel whispered to herself.

She didn't expect her boyfriend to buy it for her or anything, of course. Though Keiichiro, a kindhearted and an impressively talented baker, _could_ simply withdraw so much money from one of the many bank accounts he shared with Ryou, he never would. The blonde boy's tastes were so much more extravagant than the older man's; Keiichiro was happy to let Ryou use as much of the money as he liked.

* * *

"Wow," breathed Ichigo, staring at the jewelry store's iridescent display of breathtakingly beautiful precious stones. "They're absolutely amazing!"

"Yes, but look at those pearls..." Aoyama frowned at the white-beaded necklaces. "For every pearl on that necklace, there is a dead oyster. Look at the millions of pearls they have, just in this display case alone!" He started to rant about protecting endangered species, how so many selfish businesspeople thought money was more important than the environment, etc., etc.

Hiding a yawn, the redhead pretended to be listening. By this time her boyfriend had digressed to the point where he could launch into his generic humans-are-destroying-the-planet spiel, which he gave several times a day. Even with her inability to remember the key points of lectures at school, Ichigo had this speech memorized word-for-word.

"...and the air we breathe," the dark-haired boy finished. "Don't you agree?"

Having listened just enough to hear her cue, the girl replied, though not with as much enthusiasm as she once chimed in with, "Definitely."

Unexpectedly, Aoyama turned to glare at her. "You don't really think so, do you, Ichigo?"

To her eternal chagrin, the redhead's first thought was, _Well, it took you long enough to figure _that _out!_ Her second was: _Oh crap._ "What makes you think that?" she asked, keeping her face carefully neutral—as neutral as she could, anyway.

"If you really thought so, you'd sound more interested, wouldn't you?"

"Well, um... I—that's—" Ichigo stuttered.

"That's it," her boyfriend announced, breathtakingly gorgeous brown eyes narrowed. "I've thought so for months now, but this—"

"What?" _Please don't be saying what I think you're saying, please no, please no..._

"I'm done—_we're_ done." Without a backwards glance, Aoyama walked off briskly.

That left Ichigo to sink to her knees on the cold, hard ground, tears streaking down her pale cheeks. "Why?" was all she could think to say.

* * *

A certain eavesdropping alien had to punch a tree to keep from murdering the villain who had caused his first—and only—love so much pain. "What the hell is wrong with you, treehugging bastard?" snarled Ikisatashi Kisshu, glaring at the human boy's retreating back. It wasn't the first time his rival had made Ichigo cry—but it _was _the first time that he'd both done it deliberately, and hadn't stopped to clean up his mess.

Still shaking with sobs and cold, the redhead had gotten to her feet. Swiping at the tears that were replaced by more even before she finished, the leader of the Mew Mews started back down the street, heading in the same direction as her ex-boyfriend with a determined purpose in her eyes.

"Oh no, you're not going after him, not if I have anything to say about it," muttered her stalker, following at a safe distance. Already he had a plan—after all, in the Cyniclonian military, soldiers were trained to utilize all available knowledge and think on their feet.

* * *

"Oh—Zakuro-san!" Hesitating, the redhead twisted the hem of her skirt. Though her gaze was focused directly on the fabric, she barely noticed the mud that soiled it. (Any other time, the girl would have been in a rush to get home and wash the skirt so that she could wear it on her next date...)

"Ichigo." The tall young woman looked at the girl. _Her eyes are red—from crying, judging by the distinct tear tracks. And of all the things that could make Ichigo sad, I think there's only one that could achieve this affect..._

If Aoyama Masaya's life had been endangered before, that was nothing compared to now. If the boy wasn't careful, he'd soon have a whole city—Tokyo City, to be exact—crying for his blood. (After all, no one could resist Ichigo's charms. And a miserable Ichigo... well... let's just say it wouldn't be pleasant for her ex.)

"What happened?" Zakuro asked, a trace of gentleness in her usually cold tone. _I can guess, but..._

The younger girl just shook her head. Clearly she didn't want to talk about it. (And who would?)

Out of the corner of her eye, Ichigo caught a flash of forest-green. It reminded her of something, but she wasn't sure exactly what. Then her pointy cat ear—they'd popped out without her noticing, startled into existence by the familiar-yet-unplaceable sight—picked up a quiet chuckle. Also familiar.

There was no question as to where _that_ came from. Only one person—was he even a person?—laughed like that. "Kisshu," hissed the cat-girl in an undertone.

Her purple-haired teammate looked up from the opals she'd been mesmerized by. "Here? Now?" she asked briefly.

Nodding, Ichigo lamented, "And Shirogane _would_ pick today to fine-tune Masha! If I didn't know better, I'd say he did it on purpose. Honestly! Well, Zakuro-san, you'd better—"

"Heya, Koneko-chan!" came an annoying voice that the redhead had absolutely no trouble placing. A second later, its owner teleported into view.

"What do you want?"

Immediately the infuriating boy teleported behind her. Stroking a silky black ear gently, he murmured in her ear, "I think you know the answer to that question."

Shivering and swallowing an instinctive purr, Ichigo cursed her Iriomote Wildcat DNA. It always made her act like this when any boy was around, it seemed—well, any boy worth her notice: Aoyama-kun, Kisshu... even Shirogane, sometimes!

Hiding his satisfied smirk, Kisshu continued to pet the girl's cat ear with his right hand as his left slid down her body until it rested on her waist.

Ichigo somehow collected her thoughts enough to slap both of his hands away. "Stop it! What do you want?"

This time, the alien teen met her eyes, a strange mix of defiance and amusement in his golden orbs as he replied calmly, "You."

Silently the cat Mew Mew folded her arms across her chest, backing away and sending an intense glare at the alien boy. _If looks could kill, _Ichigo mused, _Kisshu would be long dead and I wouldn't be standing here now. _For some reason the thought made her a little sad.

Not blinking at all—_I've never understood why humans need to blink so often!_—the green-haired teenager regarded the girl calmly. At long last he smirked and began, "Ne, Koneko-chan..." He didn't get a response, not that he was expecting one. Letting the silence stretch out uncomfortably long, the infuriating alien finally continued, "Don't you feel a bit—exposed—out here where everyone can see our relationship?"

"Relationship?!" The redhead exploded. "Since when do we have a _relationship_?! Ihave a boyfriend! You're just my creepy, freaking _stalker_!"

Unfortunately for her pride, Kisshu teleported behind her _again, _not seeming to care that she practically had steam erupting from her (cat) ears. His hand slipped up to the pointy black appendage once more, making a mockery of the past few minutes. "Oh? And yet I notice you called me _yours,_ Koneko-chan. You can't seriously tell me that doesn't mean anything?"

"Oh, yes, I can! It absolutely _doesn't_ mean anything!" Trying to get away from him, she suddenly processed what else she'd yelled at him. _I have a boyfriend... _It wasn't true anymore. _Not that _he_ needs to know that! I'm sure he'd just find some way to take advantage of that! _But getting angry didn't work as well as Ichigo had hoped, and thinking of Aoyama just made her extremely sad. She froze, tears streaking down

Distracted with fondling the jet-black cat ears, the alien teen didn't pick up on her sudden depression immediately. It took him a moment, but at last he managed to ignore his hormones long enough to pay attention to the little whisper in his ear. When he did, waves of worry took the girl's lack of fight as a cue to begin trying to drown the green-haired boy. "Koneko-chan? What's—"

To his surprise, she went limp in his arms instead of fighting or retorting angrily. Admittedly it was a pleasant experience for the perverted alien, but it was somewhat marred by the fact that something was majorly _not right._ "That's easily fixed, though," he mused mischievously, teleporting away without sparing Zakuro a second glance.

* * *

"So, what's your brilliant plan?" snickered Taruto, glancing at the shell-shocked girl curled up on his adopted brother's bed. "I know you have one—possibly involving a Chimera or killing some not-very-innocent (if you considered the pollution they created) civilians; it was the only point on which Kisshu and the treehugger agreed: that humans were destroying the Earth.

Without taking his eyes off Ichigo from his vantage point three feet in the air, the green-haired teen ordered absentmindedly, "Shoo, midget. I don't have time to deal with you today. More important things to do and all that."

"More important than _me_? I'm so hurt," joked the younger boy, teleporting out anyway. _I wonder what Pudding's up to today._

Annoying-little-brother-problem taken care of, Kisshu landed lightly in front of the redhead, taking her cold hands in his. "Koneko-chan. Look at me," he commanded, more gently than Ichigo had ever heard him say anything. But the small kindness was lost on the girl who was completely dead to the world around her, her brain on overload as it continuously replayed the events of that morning. More specifically, how Aoyama had mercilessly dumped her.

"Koneko-chan," repeated the hormonal alien, trying—for once—to repress certain urges. _Oh, screw self-control. I swear I will _die _if I don't kiss her here and now._ So, having come to this conclusion, he did what any self-respecting teenage boy would have: leaned in closer and kissed the girl with such force that she ended up flat on her back, suffocating between the passionate kiss and the weight of his body on top of hers.

Well, long story short, that brought Ichigo back to reality.

Immediately the redhead blinked, focus returning to her alluring brown eyes as she squirmed, trying to push the boy off her. She wouldn't have succeeded if he hadn't cooperated rather reluctantly, floating up to look at her with exasperating amusement in his eyes. "Something wrong, Koneko-chan?"

"You think?! You went and started sexually harassing me _again_, right after my boyfriend dumped me, and then you kidnapped to—where are we, anyway?" Looking around, she took in her unfamiliar surroundings with slight panic as she avoided a certain someone's intense golden gaze.

Thoughts racing, Kisshu grinned cheerfully and mischievously as an idea occurred to him. Something grand and absolutely guaranteed to make her forgive him. "I'll be right back. Be good, ne, Koneko-chan? Try not to miss me too much."

"You—!"

But he was already gone.

* * *

"I'll be taking that, thank you very much." Calmly the pigtailed alien teen smashed the jewelry store's protective glass case with an energy ball, then swooped in to pick up something that he'd seen his kitten staring at with undisguised appreciation and longing. Well, up until that treehugging bastard dumped her, anyway.

_I hope she likes it,_ was his unusually uncertain thought as he teleported away.

* * *

Somehow the redhead had fallen asleep in the five minutes it had taken Kisshu to steal the iridescent gem and return. Curled up on her side, catlike, she was so _kawaii_ that the green-haired boy couldn't resist kissing her lightly on the nose and gently scratching one of the jet-black ears that hadn't retreated.

Sleepily she opened her eyes. "_K_-_Kisshu_?" Hurriedly she sat up, not wanting to give him an _opportunity_ to do something perverted. "What—" She cleared her throat. "What do you want?"

Wordlessly he held out the necklace. It gleamed as the beautifully polished stone caught the sunlight. The girl's heartbeat kicked up a notch when she observed how alluringly the opal sparkled, and another when she realized that she couldn't read the alien's expression. His dark-green bangs fell in his face as he looked down.

"I—is that for me?" she asked hesitantly.

Kisshu looked up with an almost shy smile. "Yup. Do—do you like it, Ichigo?"

Disbelievingly the cat-girl held out her hand without replying.

Instead of handing it to her, he smirked and landed on the bed in front of her, leaning in. Chuckling quietly when she recoiled—more in surprise than anything else—he fastened it around her neck. "There," he pronounced with clear self-satisfaction. "A pretty necklace for a pretty kitten."

A dark blush bloomed across the redhead's face as she looked away, trying to hide her pleased smile.


	16. Princess

_A/N: As I promised **Silver Sliver**, a Mint x Ryou. Hope you like it!_

_Next one will be a domestic Keiichiro x Zakuro, requested by **Cute doctor**. I am taking everyone's comments into consideration, so don't be afraid to REVIEW!_

Princess

The little four-year-old girl, wispy blue hair falling out of the tiny buns it had been fixed into, happily twirled around the spacious nursery. It was one of the few advantages of living in such a big castle: there was plenty of floor space in every room, even that of the inconsequential baby princess. Mint was the fourth child and a girl to boot; no one ever paid much attention to her, besides her nurse. The king, queen, and three princes were always too busy for her.

"Mint-sama, Shirogane-sama and his entourage have arrived."

"Yay!" This joyful squeal was immediately followed by a burst of self-consciousness. Blinking big blue eyes, the young princess passed the floor-length mirror and realized the disgraceful state of her hair. Realizing there wasn't much she could do with her clumsy toddler's fingers, Mint carefully—well, as carefully as her uncoordinated child's digits could manage—tugged the lacy white ribbons from around what little hair they still held.

"Oh, Mint-sama!" sighed the nurse, emotionlessly taking the ribbons from her young charge. Pulling a comb from her kit, she yanked the princess's hair back into its customary two medium-blue buns, though not without some gentleness. Though the young lady had little interest in the princess, an attendant of even the youngest royal stood to gain quite a bit—but only if the child in her charge remained completely unharmed.

Impatiently the girl bounced in place until the nurse had finished. When the irritable young woman finally released Mint, the little princess rushed out of the room eagerly.

Half-tripping, the child stumbled down the stairs, barely realizing she was breaking several rules of etiquette and propriety. (Well, what can you expect from a girl, even a princess, of only four years?)

Drawing up short when she reached the foot of the stairs, Mint made no secret of her disappointment when she didn't see the blonde she so enthusiastically awaited. Sighing with no small measure of unhappiness, the king's only daughter sat down prettily on the lowest step, tucking her legs sideways and spreading her skirt as she'd been taught.

At last the great doors opened. Princess Mint scrambled to her feet, her small, shiny black shoes sliding on the polished tile floor as she did so.

Once the usual pomp and fanfare—introducing the entering noble and all that—was over, the girl was free to pounce on her favorite playmate. "Ryou-chan!"

The blonde smiled mischievously. "Yo, Mint. Missed me?"

"Lots," replied the blue-eyed princess unashamedly. "Come on, let's go play!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him outside. Though the action was childish, the six-year-old boy didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed as honestly eager as his playmate.

* * *

The king glanced at Ryou's father. "Are you sure he's two years older than her? They seem to be of the same year, quite honestly."

"I'm sure." This was accompanied by a warning glare.

So while the children played, their fathers negotiated their betrothal.

* * *

"Last chance to give up, Mint!" teased the eighteen-year-old heir.

"You wish, Ryou!" his fiancée replied, just as cheerfully.

Some children never outgrow games. These two were such. And normally noble children were unhappy with arranged marriages of this sort, but these two would think themselves unusually lucky when they found out.

_A/N: How was it? Review, please please please!_


	17. Quandary

_A/N: A quandary is defined by as "a state of perplexity or uncertainty, especially as to what to do; dilemma." Please forgive any mistakes I make when I use Japanese._

**_Cute doctor_**_, here's the Keiichiro x Zakuro (Daddy x Mommy) fic you requested. Sorry if it's not up to your expectations.__  
_

_Oka-sama: worshipful way to address one's mother_

_Onee-chan: older sister_

_Imouto: younger sister_

_Oji-san: uncle_

Quandary

"Oka-sama, how come Papa never has time to play with us anymore?" whined the little purple-haired girl. Despite her childish words and tone, she managed to project sophistication in all other aspects of her being: her posture, her clothing, and her general aura. It came naturally to Kimiko—always had.

After all, her mother was Fujiwara Zakuro. The most gorgeous, the most famous supermodel in Tokyo—no, in all of Japan!

"That's because Papa is busy," replied her older sister when their mother didn't answer the question. "Isn't that right, Mama?"

"Hm?" Zakuro looked up from the photo album. "Yes, more or less."

Kimiko pouted, tossing the silky purple locks she'd inherited from her mother. "Onee-chan, come play with me, won't you?"

"Fine." Pulling her brown hair into a long ponytail, Machi stood up from the couch. Calmly she walked to the door, where her younger sister was excitedly jumping up and down.

"Come on, come on, come on!" squealed the smaller girl, excited that her second idol—the first was their mother—was finally going to indulge her in a game. "Mama, we can play outside, can't we?" The pleading in her big, expressive violet eyes spoke better than any words could have ever done.

Putting aside her treasured photos, Zakuro pretended to consider the request. Once her younger daughter had begun to squirm from nervousness, the young woman smiled radiantly and granted the girls permission. "Just keep it down, okay? Your father's in the middle of some important research."

"Okay!" They chanted happily, running outside together.

* * *

Pretty soon, just as Zakuro had anticipated, there came a crash from outside, followed by Kimiko's wail of pain and fear.

"It's okay," the young mother heard Machi reassure her sister. "I'll clean it up—don't cry anymore, Imouto."

The younger girl sniffed but ceased to sob. For a while there was peace in the little garden.

* * *

"Did I hear a crash?" sighed Keiichiro as Zakuro closed the study door.

"Unfortunately, you probably did." Barely sparing the time to glance out the window, the purple-haired young woman shrugged. "Machi will take care of it."

The brown-haired man smiled. "I'm sure she will. She's gotten much more mature recently, don't you think?"

The couple smiled at each other.

"I agree. Of course, that must be because she's _your_ daughter, Keii-kun."

He shook his head, wearing a smile full of love as he set aside his stack of papers. "No, Zakuro, I'm sure it's _your_ genes coming out in her that makes our daughter so adorable."

She laughed softly, picking up the top piece of paper. Her eyes skimmed it, and abruptly her smile dropped. A frown creased her (flawless) forehead. "Again? Ryou really won't let it go, will he? I do hope you haven't accepted his proposal."

"Don't worry, I haven't. Though Machi does show a lot of promise, it's far too early for her to be away from home for so long. She's only eleven, after all." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "But Ryou's right when he says that an early start can be crucial."

Zakuro shook her head. "Mint was thirteen; remember what it did to her? She wasn't really that snobby—it was a front, her way of coping with everything. And Pudding—she was only nine when she met Ichigo."

"Still—remember how Ryou and I told you five that you had to be compatible? Ryou tried it on himself to ensure your safety, and he could only ever turn into a cat for ten minutes at the most. The fact that the five of you became Tokyo Mew Mew... Well, that's something special. And you did change, knowing those girls. You can't deny that, Zakuro. Now our daughter has the chance to be part of something like that, and you don't think she should be allowed to even hear about it?" In that moment, the mother of two was forcibly reminded that her husband _had_ been Shirogane Ryou's partner in the Mew Project. Only one of the original scientists responsible for changing five girls' DNA would even consider doing the same to his own child.

Sure, Keiichiro's tone was mild, his words aiming for considering all the possibilities, rather than convincing his wife to change her mind. But still, even though Zakuro knew she was better for having been a Mew Mew, she didn't think her daughters needed the painful, life-changing experience.

Part of marriage, though, was compromising. "I see your point," she calmly told her husband. "Certainly it's arguable that Machi should be allowed to make her own decision. Let me think about it, okay?"

She was rewarded for her perseverance with a brilliant smile and a gentle yet passionate kiss that lasted eleven seconds—Zakuro counted and relished every one of them.

* * *

Only six months after Ryou had sent his fiftieth meant-to-be-convincing report to the Akasakas, Zakuro and Keiichiro had finally agreed to tell their elder daughter about the opportunity available to her.

After listening patiently to her mother's explanation of the good and the bad both, Machi immediately gave her answer. The promptness of her reply led her parents to believe that the girl had only pretended to listen to the pros and cons. Certainly she couldn't possibly have weighed them and considered her options. "I want to. I want to do this. I want to be a Mew Mew!" "You can tell Ryou oji-san that if he can find a good match for me, I'd absolutely love to carry the DNA of an endangered animal!"

"So do I!" whined Kimiko. "Oka-sama, how come Onee-chan gets to be a Mew Mew and I don't?"

Zakuro looked at her younger daughter sympathetically. "Have you been watching that DVD again?"

Back when she had been a Mew Mew, several fanatics had taken hours' worth of amateur video that showed some of the Mew Mews' most splendid battles. As a celebrity, it had been easy for the wolf Mew Mew to get her hands on a copy of the final, "official" DVD. And, of course, her Mew Mew-obsessed daughters loved to watch the video over and over.

"Of course!" chirped the purple-haired preteen.

The young mother knelt down to her daughter's eye level. "Kimiko, do you remember the behind-the-scenes footage? The footage that shows the Mew Mews—us—working at the café, planning how to combat the next attack? And what about the video of our losing battles?" Letting it sink in, Zakuro continued, "Being a Mew Mew really isn't all glory and easy fights. There's a lot of hard work and danger—you're only eight, Kimiko, and I really don't think you're ready. But if it helps—Ryou oji-san is already working hard to find an animal match for you; he's been searching for six months now. As soon as he has one, he'll start badgering us to let him combine its DNA with yours. And I promise, when that time comes, Papa and I will tell you so that you can decide if you want to be a Mew Mew. Okay?"

Though she pouted, Kimiko understood more of her mother's words than an average eight-year-old would. Her intelligence might have been hereditary—inherited from her father—or it may have been environmentally created—through her mother's upbringing.

And, in private, Zakuro and Keiichiro continually debated the question of which it was.

_A/N: I have several ideas for these, but I am taking requests. If you'd like to see a certain couple or a certain topic, feel free to put it in your review or PM me. In any case... please please please please REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW. Arigato gozaimasu._


	18. Radishes

_A/N: You're probably ready to kill me right now. I don't blame you at ... fluffy, wholesome Pudding x Taruto cuteness. Any requests? Certain pairings, certain topics... I'll take them all into consideration._

Radishes

The orange-clad girl's short blond braids flew as she shook her head vigorously in answer to Sensei's question. Glaring at her plate, she pushed a few thick, white vegetable slices around sulkily. "Pudding hates radishes, na no da," the smallest Mew Mew muttered rebelliously. _Pudding won't eat them, not even for Sensei._

"Pudding-chan, finish your vegetables," admonished Sensei. "Didn't you say that Taruto-kun is coming over later? You can't go play with him until you're completely finished with your dinner. And yes, that _does_ include the radishes." Calmly she cleared away the little kids' shiny-clean plates, leaving the eldest Fong alone at the big table.

The monkey-girl humphed, glaring at the offending dish. She could—and probably would—have sat there all night, but there was a knock at the door.

It could only be one person.

Glancing from the plate to the hall leading to the front door and back again, Pudding considered eating the disgusting food.

Yes.

No.

Yes.

No.

_No._

Not for Sensei. Not even for Taru-Taru.

A minute or so later, the Fongs' foster guardian returned. "It's some of your siblings' friends," she informed the rebellious girl. "Since they've eaten all of their dinner, they can go play."

_Oh... So it's not Taru-Taru then, na no da._

Glancing at Pudding's clearly-not-empty plate, Sensei added, "If you would just finish off those radishes, Pudding-chan, you could go too, when Taruto-kun comes."

Receiving no reply, the young woman left.

* * *

"Ne, Pudding..."

Mindful of the fact that Sensei and her siblings were just a room away, the girl made an effort to keep her voice _way_ softer than usual as she squealed excitedly, "Taru-Taru!"

"Yo." Grinning, the boy who'd just teleported in took in the plate of uneaten radishes. "Confined to the table until you finish those?" he guessed.

"Yup, na no da."

Taruto's smile turned mischievous as he suggested, "I could make them... _vanish _for you. Then they'd be gone, and we could go."

Pudding thought back. Sensei had never actually told her to _eat_ the radishes, just to finish them. "Sure!" Though she had a _very_ temporary doubt about tricking Sensei like that, the monkey-girl satisfied her conscience with the remembrance that her adopted mother had threatened her with death by disgusting vegetable.

"Close your eyes," ordered the pigtailed boy playfully. His partner in crime did so anyway.

Cheerfully the alien child teleported behind his best friend, placing a hand on her shoulder. Then he teleported again, but not before scooping up the plate with her untouched vegetables.

* * *

"We're here."

After figuring out that they were now in the park, Pudding next noticed that the pointy-eared boy was holding a plate of thick white disks: radish slices.

"What are you planning to do with those, na no da?"

Again Taruto grinned mischievously as he picked up a piece of the offending vegetable. Holding it up to the light so that its true thickness was clear in its opacity. A malicious glint sparkling in his orange eyes, the alien kid suddenly flicked the disk at the girl.

Leaping impossibly high, she just barely managed to dodge the unexpected projectile. "Taru-Taru! What—" Spinning in midair to avoid the next flying slice of radish, Pudding's anger soon gave way to delighted giggles. "Hey, give me some!"

Taruto obliged, hurling a whole handful at her.

* * *

"So did you finish your radishes in the end, Pudding-chan?" Sensei paused, taking in the orange-clad girl's flushed cheeks and bright smile. "You look like you had fun, so I'll let it go this one time, even if you didn't."

Dang. Did all parents make you feel so guilty by forgiving you?

But at least she'd had a lot of fun.

_A/N: If you want me to update soon, reviewing would be a really really really good idea. So, just to repeat: you want the next few (since I'll post several oneshots now to compensate for the late update) you should REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW. Well, even if you don't, thanks for reading._


	19. Shoes

_A/N: Wrote this one and had it sitting around for a while; sorry I didn't post it earlier. And sorry, no real fluff in this chapter. Unless you ship Pudding x Ichigo. Which I highly doubt _anyone_ does. But anyway, I hope you like it. (In my defense, I was super bored and a little out of ideas for what to do with the letter "S". Plus, I recently went shoe shopping for a speech and debate tournament.)_

Shoes

"They're cute, na no da!"

The cat-girl shook her head. "They are cute, I'll give you that. But you just don't get it, Pudding." She turned up her nose à la Mint as she explained with only a little condescension, "No self-respecting teenager would ever wear _sandals_ in the middle of the winter! And _these_ sandals—nuh-uh. I wouldn't wear them even on the hottest summer days."

"Why not, na no da?" The youngest Mew Mew regarded the shoes perplexedly. "Is something wrong with them, na no da?"

"Yes. They're radioactive orange of an eye-blindingly bright shade, with alternating stripes of atrocious neon green, plus polka dots in an unnatural purple color that doesn't look at all pleasant. Besides their revolting appearance, these sandals"—Ichigo picked up the display shoe by the heel, dangling it from two fingers disgustedly—"do not seem to be made for wear." She indicated the impossibly thin-and-flimsy straps that were supposed the hold the sandals on the wearer's feet. "You'd have to be insane to buy them, much less to wear them. They seem like they'd fall apart as soon as you tried to lace them up."

The blue-haired girl walked over, with all her dancer's grace despite her petite stature. "Have you—" Dark eyes took in the shoes in her friend's hand. "You're not planning on getting those, do you? They're _hideous._"

"Of course I wasn't planning on getting them," scoffed the redhead. "They're ridiculous."

Their smallest teammate said nothing, but there was an ominously familiar glint in her eyes.

* * *

As Pudding smiled wickedly at the shoebox she held, her partner in crime shook his head. "Why won't you let me see them?" he whined.

"Because, Taru-Taru, this'll be so much more fun if you don't know what they look like yet!" The orange-clad girl burst into delighted giggles. In between quick breaths, she gasped, "You'll—love—this—Pudding—promises—na. No. Da."

* * *

"Happy birthday, Ichigo!" cried all the girls, plus Ryou and Keiichiro.

"Wow, sweet sixteen already," Lettuce sighed enviously.

"Better enjoy it, this year won't come again," advised Mint, who was only two months from her seventeenth birthday.

"Hope you like your presents, na no da," Pudding snickered wickedly, thinking about the contents of the gift she'd brought.

"Speaking of which, why don't you open them?" suggested Ryou, trying not to give himself away. He knew far more than he should about the contents of the certain gift-wrapped boxes piled in front of the birthday girl.

"All right," the girl agreed excitedly. Reaching for the topmost box, she immediately took in the high-quality paper and ribbon to automatically identify the sender as Mint.

Armed with this information, Ichigo untied and unwrapped the present more carefully than she normally would—her rich friend was very particular about the handling of gifts that she'd sent.

"Oh," gasped the redhead delightedly, gazing in wonder at the splendid necklace resting in the shallow box. "Thank you so much, Mint!"

"Hmph," sniffed the heiress. "Just take good care of it—jewelry like that doesn't come cheap, you know."

Carefully the cat-girl laid the box aside, picking up the next. Heedlessly she threw aside the pale single-color wrapping paper, uncovering the cute outfit Lettuce had given her. "Wow! It's so cute! Lettuce, I love it!"

"You do?" The fair-skinned girl blushed with happiness.

Ichigo already had the next box open. "Oh." Her crestfallen expression made the gift's blond sender snicker.

"Really?" gasped Ryou, breathless from laughing. "It's really not that bad! And it suits you perfectly, you gotta admit!"

Shoving the pink kitty collar to one side, the leader of the Mew Mews ignored Ryou as she unwrapped Keiichiro's box of homemade cake mixes and happily thanked the eldest participant in the Mew Project.

After profusely thanking Zakuro for her choice of lotions and perfumes, Ichigo turned to the last box, noting suspiciously that it was the size of a shoebox. _It can't be...?_

Opening the haphazardly-wrapped box, the redhead was dismayed to discover Pudding's gift was indeed _in_ a shoebox. And the shoebox was sadly familiar.

After all, you don't forget the packaging of the ugliest shoes in the world.

Lifting the lid cautiously, Ichigo was exasperated and extremely disappointed to discover that Pudding had given her exactly what she'd made clear she hated more than any other article of clothing she'd ever seen.

It took only a few seconds

* * *

For a long time, the only sound in the Café was that of two girls racing around the building, fueled by their strong emotions.

The tiny blonde acrobat, full of delight and wicked satisfaction.

Chased by the pigtailed redhead, powered by anger and humiliation.

All in all, a typical day for Tokyo Mew Mew. The side that the public never saw, anyway.

_A/N: So review, and next is a fluffier, more romantic oneshot for you guys. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me all the way!_


	20. Track

_A/N: Kishigo. Recently I've been looking at electives and sports for next school year, and when I got to the letter T, this immediately popped into my head._

Track

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"I _don't_ run. I _don't_ do team sports. What makes you think I would _possibly_ try out for the school swim team?" scowled the redhead, shaking her head so that her pigtails flew with a life of their own. "Aoyama-kun, this has to be one of the worst ideas you've ever had!" A few years ago she might have worried about speaking to her boyfriend in such a tone, but they'd been going out for three years; Ichigo was no longer scared to be more open with him now.

"But Ichigo, I think track would be a great fit for you. After you quit rhythm gymnastics, all the school captains have been aching to get you on their teams," the boy reminded her patiently. "They saw how good you are, and they'll never give up until you join one team or another." There was no annoyance in his clear brown eyes, only pride and enjoyment of the moment: peacefully sitting on a park bench with his girlfriend.

"No," the cat-Mew Mew repeated impatiently. "I don't _like_ swimming, Aoyama-kun, and I won't try out, not even for you."

He smiled calmly. "I know. You're stubborn like that." There was no malice in his tone, just light-hearted, gentle teasing. Half-laughing, the brown-haired teenager leaned over and lightly kissed Ichigo on the nose. Tapping the same spot, Aoyama remarked, "Ne, Ichigo, you're pretty cute when you look like that."

"Like what?" As predicted, the redhead took the bait. But, though her boyfriend didn't know it, she did so on purpose—partly to take her mind of the traitorous thoughts she couldn't voice even to herself.

"Like this," sighed a new voice. Another boy's voice. "The way you always do after he kisses you."

Immediately Ichigo turned a shade of pink that went quite well with her vivid hair. _Lucky that, by context, the reason for my blushing is easily explained away as _what_ he said. Even though that's not the real reason._ The real reason, though she didn't want to admit it... well, let's just say Aoyama wouldn't be at all happy if he knew it.

Looking up at the green-haired teen appraisingly, the brown-eyed boy kept his cool pretty well, especially considering his new suspicions. He'd harbored this particular suspicion for a while now, and the other boy's presence here in the park only added to the mounting evidence against Aoyama's girlfriend.

Trying to suppress the bitter anger and hatred he felt towards the other, the ex-host of Deep Blue asked conversationally, "So, what are you doing here... Kisshu?"

Sure, the aliens had allied with the Mew Mews, then remained in Tokyo after Deep Blue's defeat. And yes, they were attending the same schools as Tokyo's anonymous defenders. But that didn't mean that Aoyama had to enjoy their presence.

The alien teen grinned mischievously. "Don't mind me, treehugger; I'm just here to convince _your girlfriend_ to join the track team." He laid just the barest hint of emphasis on those two words; they betrayed his otherwise-indistinguishable disappointment. After a second the amber-eyed boy continued lightly, "It _is_ the best team for her to join, and besides, if she did track, most of the other school captains would stop bugging her."

Aoyama thought for a minute, then gave up trying to figure out any ulterior motives. Rather than ask about them, though, he settled for the query that was least of his worries. "What makes track better than all the other teams?"

The other young man's playful grin turned just a little malicious. "Because _I'm_ the captain of the track team."

_Now_ the redhead looked up, interest in her brown eyes.

* * *

As Ichigo waved to her boyfriend, she told Kisshu in an undertone, "I can't believe I let you talk me into this. I must be insane."

"Well, I'm not going to disagree with that statement, Koneko-chan. _I _can't believe it either. But if it's any consolation, you look cute in a tracksuit!" replied the infuriating boy.

The girl shook her head, single ponytail whipping across her face due to the biting-cold early-morning breeze. "How do you ever put up with the training hours? It's freezing out here!"

"Ne, Koneko-chan..." The green-haired boy moved closer, wishing he could teleport but knowing that people were watching. Nevertheless, he crossed the track swiftly; within seconds, his breath was warm on Ichigo's ear.

Casting a contemptuous glance at the space the treehugger had vacated in favor of someplace warmer, Kisshu felt free to wrap his arms around the redhead and whisper in her ear, "Is this better?"

The cat-girl shivered, glad that Ryou had discovered a solution to her ears popping out all the time. Sure, they were cute and everything, but jet-black cat ears are quite conspicuous, especially on a (supposedly) human girl's head.

She looked to where Aoyama once stood, Ichigo was dismayed at the relief that filled her upon confirmation of his absence. Though the alien teen's actions had already assured her that the human boy wasn't around, she'd still felt guilty at how much she enjoyed standing here with Kisshu.

The rest of the track team was beginning to gather. Reluctantly the green-haired boy let go of the girl, though he did take her hand as he decided, "Okay. Today we're going to stretch, then warm up with a two-mile jog followed by a quarter-mile sprint. Once you finish that, you can take a break until everyone's finished."

"Yes, sir!" Eagerly most of the runners set out immediately, and soon the steady pounding of feet on track matched up with the staccato of the newest track member's heart. Kisshu turned to her, his not-so-secret crush. "Koneko-chan, since it's only your first day, take it easy, ne?" His fingers slid smoothly, naturally, through her bright ponytail. It was made even more vivid, even more beautiful by the pale of the early-morning surroundings—at least, the alien teen thought so. "Wouldn't want you to wear out that cute little body of yours."

Turning her face from the team captain, the redhead dearly hoped that the track captain hadn't seen the dark flush staining her otherwise-pale cheeks.

In general, though, the green-haired boy didn't miss much, between his large, sharp golden eyes and big pointed ears—both of which served purposes that went far beyond looks. Ichigo _had_ averted her face extremely quickly, but of course the quick-eyed teenage boy had already picked up on the girl's color change. "Ne, Koneko-chan..."

"Just—" Changing her mind, the cat-girl shook her head, giving up on whatever she'd been about to say. Instead she spun on her heel, nearly tripping over her brand-new track shoes. Recovering quickly, she resumed her path. Once she reached the track, she started on her two-mile jog without once looking back—though she wanted to.

Oh, how much she wanted to look back.

At the steady footsteps behind her, the pacing and surety of movement that could only belong to one person.

At the boy who was always there, alternately teasing and encouraging her.

At Kisshu, the boy who confused Ichigo like no other.

At the boy she either loved or hated more than any other.

_A/N: Requests, comments, suggestions: whatever you've got, review please! This is the last one for tonight but hopefully not for the month.  
_


	21. Umbrella

_A/N: To everyone who's waiting on my other stories, gomenasai! Just finished a lengthy history/language arts project *sighs in relief* I plan to have a new chapter up for _each_ of my fics by the end of the month... but you probably shouldn't count on it. Thanks for not giving up on me!_

Umbrella

Though the long break from school was long-anticipated and well-deserved by most students, the heavy winters tormented Lettuce horribly. Often accompanied by the thunder she no longer irrationally feared—though they did still scare her—the torrents came and went quickly, defying all logic and weather reports with their unpredictability. Everyone who ventured out onto the streets was constantly glancing up at the sky, wary of another surprise storm.

Quickly the green-haired girl picked up her jacket, throwing it on as she hurried out the front door. Today she hoped to get to the library and back without getting caught in the rain as she had on all previous attempts.

The porpoise-girl ran all the way to her refuge in times of stress and trouble. But once she began leafing through the first book, time lost all meaning and the bespectacled girl forgot that she'd intended to simply pop in and out. She forgot that the rain came so suddenly these days. She forgot everything she had planned to do upon returning home.

She forgot that sometimes rain falls silently.

For so long, the unannounced downpours had thundered and crashed against the ground and buildings, announcing themselves forcefully with noise that didn't let you forget their existence. Now the precipitation was completely soundless, and Lettuce walked right into it, her head still full of calm sceneries and romantic stories.

The first drop landed on her nose, waking her from the rare vivid fantasies she'd been indulging in. Swiping the splatter of water from her face absentmindedly, the shyest Mew Mew blinked when she caught a glimpse of a familiar face in the corner of her eye. _It can't be... can it?_

Surely it wasn't...

It couldn't be.

Then the tall young man turned, his pitch-dark eyes—no longer hidden under the jet-black umbrella he held—meeting hers.

* * *

"Lettuce-san?" Though the speaker was hardly inclined to voice hypotheses before they were proved correct, his mind and heart—not to mention the rest of his body—seemed to take action on their own. Especially when a certain girl was nearby.

The blue-eyed girl whirled around to face him, pale green braids flying. "Pai-san." Her sweet voice was barely above a whisper; the eldest Ikisatashi had to strain his superior-to-humans' hearing just to catch the single word.

Hesitantly the porpoise-Mew Mew walked over to the purple-haired alien, newly checked-out books in tow. "Hi," she managed despite her rapidly-pounding heartbeat. "What brings you here?"

"I am simply observing human behavior so that once all our preparations are complete, my brothers and I will be able to assimilate properly into your society without drawing the suspicion of any of your acquaintances."

"Oh, I see." Her smile was the very personification of shy radiance that was endearingly unaware of itself, always appealing in a girl. "You always work so hard, Pai-san!" The hushed admiration in her voice was charmingly unconcealed, rare but definitely appreciated.

Self-consciously Pai's black eyes met the porpoise-Mew Mew's as he cleared his throat and began hesitantly, "Would you—" _Damn, this worked so much more easily on my screen that it is doing now. _

Lettuce waited silently, painfully aware of the shyness that made it hard just to take a deep breath and prompt her former opponent, who'd never really been an enemy, "Yes?"

Giving up on voicing an invitation, the stoic alien warrior simply moved his umbrella to cover his acquaintance. Almost shyly, she slipped her small hand into his as they stepped closer together.

No longer staring into those entrancing blue eyes, the purple-haired young man finally managed to complete his query. "Would you join me this afternoon, on what I believe humans call a 'date'?"

Eyes widening in euphoric surprise, the shyest Mew Mew's pale face flushed delicately. "Oh, yes!" she breathed eagerly.

_A/N: Review please! Hope you liked this, and the next one too._


	22. Violin

_A/N: Once again, I'm sorry for the long wait. Could've had more fluff here, I know, but I felt this was pretty good for what I was going for._

Violin

Lovely dulcet notes of a stringed instrument flowed smoothly and beautifully, carried by the wind from the unknown skilled musician who created them. Several passersby paused to listen more intently. The popular unrequited-love song was played everywhere, by everyone; but this particular violinist's melody had a special wordless pain that captured all his listeners' hearts with its subtlety and bare honesty.

One of the stopping pedestrians was Momomiya Ichigo. Hearing the popular tune, so familiar and yet disarmingly, uniquely heartbroken, struck a tone in her heart that reminded her of her own feelings just a few days ago. For a few minutes she stood stock-still, simply allowing the music to penetrate her heart, her emotions: the better to understand its message. A particularly bittersweet note sounded, and suddenly she knew. Only one person in Tokyo—no, in the _world_—was capable of creating such a haunting rendition of an annoyingly generic unrequited-love song.

She just listened for a moment, rewrapping her scarf around her neck and considering the message she was sure she heard. At last, huffing with impatience, the redhead spun on her heel and headed toward the music's source. She felt none of the shy anxiety that boy's presence used to instill in her, even though his melody was a thousand times more _there,_ more _real_ than he had ever been. For once, the girl could clearly hear the pain in his heart, unhidden by the cold façade he'd begun to adopt towards her recently.

Wonderingly she reflected on the past month's happenings. If that explosive scene hadn't taken place, in a beautiful autumn-colored park on a chilly October day, Ichigo would have been happily running towards the musician creating such a touching melody, shy admiration filling her heart. But since it had, she was stalking angrily in the direction of the culprit. The one who'd so coldly broken her heart.

Suddenly the redhead stopped short, looking surprised—but whether it was pleasantly or unpleasantly so, it was hard to tell. A tall, familiar green-haired figure stood in her way, deliberately not looking at her. He sighed, his breath showing itself in frosty white puffs clearly visible in the frozen sunlight.

"You're not going back to him, are you?" asked Kisshu. "I thought we'd established that you're better off without him, Koneko-chan."

Her brown eyes lit up as he turned to look at her, his golden eyes slightly worried. With quickened footsteps and a lightening heart Ichigo hurried forward to meet her boyfriend. Gladly he took her gloved hand in his, all the tension leaving his well-muscled body with that one simple point of contact.

As they continued in the same direction, the girl finally answered, slowly, "I'm not going back to him. There's no way I'd ever be with someone who hurt me like that. But I know him as well as anyone—better, probably—and I _know_ that he's hurt the way I was. I can hear it in the way he's playing his music. And I know he's the reason I was hurting so bad for so long, but... I can't just leave him to suffer by himself."

"I think you can, though," the Cyniclonian teen stated matter-of-factly. He was a little hurt that the redhead had once thought that _he_ didn't deserve that same sympathy and pity. Plus, he had the distinct feeling she was keeping something from him. "You were a wreck—all thanks to that stupid, two-timing treehugger. If he's in pain, he deserves it."

Ichigo stopped walking. Eyes fixed straight ahead, she replied, "No. Nobody deserves to hurt like that. And when they inevitably do, they don't deserve to be left all alone."

"What if he _wants_ to be left alone, Koneko-chan?"

Resolutely continuing on her path, the redhead squeezed her companion's hand gently as she told him, "I'd rather know for myself that he'd prefer not to see me, than to know that I could have helped him but didn't."

Kisshu desisted; he knew there was no convincing the girl. After all, it was one of the things he liked best about his Koneko-chan.

* * *

"Ichigo," breathed the brown-haired boy. "I didn't think you'd come."

She shook her head, red pigtails flying. "At first, neither did I. Then I heard the passage you'd improvised."

The green-haired boy's eyes widened. He hadn't heard an improvised passage—but... There had been a part that hadn't sounded quite right. Not _bad_, but out of keeping with the original melody. So the treehugger had more talent than he'd thought.

Aoyama's eyes brightened. "So you _did_ notice," he noted in relief. "I thought you would." Then his temporary cheerfulness was marred by the sadness that returned to overshadow the happiness in his eyes, like gray clouds covering the sun. "The truth is, I have something to say to you."

"If you're going to tell me that you're sorry, you shouldn't have cheated on me with Kaki, you didn't love her anyway, it was just a fling, it won't happen again, or any such crap... Save your breath," advised the redhead. "We're done. It's a decision you made yourself, and there's no going back to where we used to be."

"But Ichigo—I—"

"If you're going to say that you love her, I'll punch you in the face," warned Kisshu, only half-jokingly. "I shouldn't even be telling you this, but she has a major soft spot for you. The last thing she needs is for you to mess with her heart. Leave her alone."

"I guess there's nothing else you wanted to say to me. I'm leaving, then."

As Ichigo walked off, still holding Kisshu's hand, Aoyama watched her go wordlessly, a deeply regretful sadness in his eyes.

* * *

_One week later_

Walking to meet her boyfriend for a real date this time, the pigtailed redhead heard the pitiful attempts at music from quite far away.

She snuck up on the alien boy, carefully confiscating his violin. "What do you think you're doing?" was her halfhearted demand.

For once in his life the golden-eyed teen seemed a little sheepish. "Well, you seemed to enjoy the melody _he_ played for you last week. So I thought..."

Ichigo shook her head. "Don't you get it, you baka? What I liked was that he was _thinking of me_ when he played it, and it came out so beautifully. It wasn't the music—it was the fact that he was playing it _for me_."

Kisshu blinked. "I see," he mused at last. "So, then, Koneko-chan..." Making sure no one was watching, he teleported behind the girl, spinning her around to face him. "Would you rather"—his words were a warm murmur in her ear, sending pleasant shivers down her spine—"I did _this?_"

By the fact that she twined her arms around his neck as he kissed her, the Cyniclon teen guessed that her answer was _yes._

_A/N: I was aiming for vivid imagery. Did I succeed? Please tell me in a review or PM!_


	23. Wishing Well

Wishing Well

Glancing dubiously into the murky depths of the stone structure, the redhead indecisively turned the coin over in her hand. She'd always felt that it was a waste of money, but what harm could it do to hope—to _wish?_

"Here goes nothing." The girl's doubtful murmur broke the almost-magical silence, breaking whatever spell of uncertainty veiled her mind. "I've got nothing to lose, right?"

Before Ichigo could change her mind, she slowly held the coin over the well and let go.

* * *

"Why must we fight, na no da?" whispered the orange-clad child, digging a hard-earned coin from her pocket. "Pudding isn't sure this will work, but it's better than doing nothing."

Her bright eyes followed the arc of the coin as it dropped into the murky depths.

* * *

Green braids flashed as a fair-skinned young woman entered the forest clearing. No one was around her, for once.

"If only we could get along!" was her sighed lament. Ignoring the tears that welled up in big blue eyes, Lettuce dropped a coin into the well, pinning to it her most heartfelt wishes.

* * *

The air seemed to ripple as a dark-green-haired teenager teleported in front of the well. Frustration and disappointment were evident in his golden eyes as he glared at the stone structure. "Why can't she just give in?"

Kisshu didn't believe it would do any good, but he flipped a coin into the well anyway.

* * *

A familiar red-ball weapon bounced off the well. From the nearby trees appeared a pigtailed boy.

Pulling a coin from his pocket, Taruto tossed it into the water with more hope than his nonchalant expression would suggest.

* * *

Deciding that this piece of human work would serve as well as any other, the purple-haired young man used his Cyniclonian skills and experience to take efficient notes on the structure. Suddenly he remembered that a certain blue-eyed bookworm had been reading a book with a picture of such a structure; the character in the story had thrown a coin into the well to make a wish.

"Such foolishness and frivolty," muttered Pai. But he dropped a coin in anyway.


	24. X-Rays

_A/N: I am such a horrible author when it comes to updating. But I'll try to finish one of these every week from now on—look for them on Wednesdays._

X-Rays

A quiet gasp of pain, but it was all that the alien child needed to hear.

Quickly he flew in, scooping up his best friend without stopping. "You okay, Pudding?"

She gripped her left wrist tightly and didn't reply. The intensity with which she bit her lip was answer enough for the boy who knew her better than any other person on Earth.

Taruto knew he couldn't take her to a hospital—the monkey DNA would definitely show up, if the doctors decided to do a blood test. But, luckily, they had trusted friends who were learned in the medical sciences.

* * *

"It's only sprained," Ryou finally declared. He casually pressed a button, turning off the monitor of his illegal (but very necessary) machinery. Technically neither he nor Keiichiro had licenses to practice medicine; however, they knew what they were doing—and they did it far better than many licensed doctors.

As the blonde got up, Pudding's best friend looked ready to pounce on the older male. "What do you mean, 'only'?!" he demanded angrily. "Can't you see how much it hurts her?"

"Taru-Taru, don't worry, and don't shout at Ryou-oniichan. Pudding is fine, na no da."

"No, you're not."

He turned for corroboration from a more credible source, but the director of the Mew Project had sneaked out of the basement when the youngest of Tokyo's defenders were distracted.

* * *

_Three months later_

"Are you sure that it's completely healed?"

"Yes, Taru-Taru, na no da!" The impatience in Pudding's voice was unmistakable.

He tossed his brown pigtails, looking away to hide his hurt."Well, I was just asking."

* * *

"Yes, it's perfectly fine. Just take it easy for a few more weeks, okay?" Keiichiro powered down the machines, smiling kindly at the young couple.

"Great." Taruto sighed in relief. "Now we can do something fun!"

_A/N: If you guys review, I may be able to have the next one up before the end of the week!_


	25. Yarn

Yarn

_A/N: What if each of our favorite TMM couples was given a ball of brightly colored yarn? What would they do with it?_

The blue-haired dancer couldn't stop looking around anxiously, hoping no one would see her holding hands with the blonde. "Ryou," she hissed, then immediately blushed.

"Still can't say my name without feeling embarrassed? What kind of girlfriend does that make you, do you think?" he teased. On his face was that cheeky grin she'd come to love.

"Well, you can't say my name either, can you?"

"M-mint." There was no mistaking it—that was _definitely_ the hint of a blush spreading across his cheeks as his smirk slowly disappeared.

A white-and-blue ball dropped from the sky. Reflexively the petite girl caught it in both small gloved hands.

"What is this?" she murmured, passing it carefully to her boyfriend.

He turned it over in his hands. "I think it's... yarn."

"_Yarn?_" The bird-Mew Mew looked scornful. "And it's low-quality material, too."

"But the color..." Gently Ryou wrapped a length around one of his girlfriend's hair buns. Satisfied, he nodded and pulled a switchblade from his back pocket.

"R-ryou, what are you-?"

"Just hold still for a moment." The blonde neatly cut the yarn, then snipped off another piece of equal length. He put away the blade before wrapping one string around one of Mint's buns. Neatly he tied a cute bow, securing the yarn. Then he ornamented the other bun.

The girl blushed, though she was smiling. "R-ryou."

"I think it looks cute." Ryou leaned in almost teasingly, kissing his girlfriend lightly on the nose.

Mint's blush was charming and cute. "Okay, I'll leave it in. For you."

* * *

Zakuro was brushing her long, shiny purple locks when the phone rang. Quickly she set down the hairbrush, crossing the room in graceful, fluid movements. "Hello?"

"Hi, Zakuro."

Normally, as the young lady found hair-brushing to be a calming pastime, but that voice—and its owner—was always welcome anytime, anyplace as far as the Japanese supermodel was concerned. "Keiichiro, hello."

"Can you come to the café as soon as possible, please?"

The urgency in his voice alerted her, and the wolf-Mew Mew didn't bother asking for an explanation. "I'll be right there."

...

"I never said it was an emergency," Keiichiro pointed out with a gentle smile; his girlfriend had burst in as if a Chimera was hot on her heels.

"Yeah, well, you sounded so... anxious that I couldn't help assuming—"

"Here." The brown-haired man held out an elegantly wrapped box. "I found this on the back steps of the café this morning; I'm not sure what it is."

The young woman's slim fingers gently tapped the tag on the present, which bore her name. "Well, let's see what's inside."

Both young people stared at the contents of the box.

"... Yarn?" Keiichiro said at last. "The fibers aren't very fine or high-class, but the colors are pretty." The yarn was dyed in cheerful shades of brown and white. He sighed. "I have no use for it, though; and there isn't much room around here for so much yarn."

An idea began to spark in his girlfriend's mind. "Can I have it, then?"

"Of course."

...

"This is... for me?"

"Of course." The wildly popular supermodel graced him with the smile that launched a hundred magazine covers. "Open it, Keiichiro."

Keiichiro carefully untied the yarn—the hue suggested it was from the ball they'd found last week—and opened the beautifully wrapped box. While the paper was beautiful and the wrapping flawless, there was a DIY quality to it that the young man infinitely appreciated.

Inside was an endearingly crooked hand-crocheted scarf, made of the same yarn as the lengths originally securing the box.

"Did you make this? I thought you'd given up crocheting."

"Well, I admit it was hard to find the time. That's why it took me a whole week." Zakuro smiled shyly, her eyes darting around the room to avoid eye contact with her boyfriend. "It's not perfect, I know—I'm out of practice. But I hope you like it."

"Like it? I love it!" Keiichiro leaned forward, gently kissing his girlfriend on the forehead.

Zakuro smiled, less shyly this time. "Really? I'm glad of that."

* * *

Lettuce didn't look for her pile of library books; it was always kept on her desk. As she reached for the topmost novel, her fingers brushed against a soft, round object. Now she glanced at the stack: on top rested a ball of yarn.

It was purple, almost precisely the shade of—A faint blush colored the porpoise-Mew Mew's fair-skinned face as the hue struck a chord in her memory.

Though it was getting late and she was tired, she reached for her doll-making kit.

...

As Pai sat on his girlfriend's windowsill, he sighed as it slowly dawned on him that she wasn't in the room.

The eldest Ikisatashi was about to leave when something on her shelf caught his eye.

Of course he'd known she liked to sew dolls. But this one...

It bore an uncanny resemblance to him. Yarn hair and all.

* * *

"Taru-Taru! Look what Pudding found, na no da!"

A soft ball came flying out of nowhere, smacking the youngest alien in the face. "Ow! What was that for?" he growled, albeit playfully. "Pudding! You better watch out!" He dived down a few feet and scooped it up, ready to throw it back.

Then its hue caught Taruto's attention. It was a cheerful brownish-orange, almost exactly the same shade as his best friend's eyes.

"Oi, Taru-Taru, are you gonna throw it or not?"

So the youngest of the Café Mew Mew staff spent the rest of the afternoon playing catch.

* * *

"Nya~"

A little black kitten caught the green-haired teen's attention, and he chuckled when he realized who it was. "Hello, Koneko-chan."

She rubbed up against his ankles, purring adorably. Kisshu scooped her up, running his fingers through her silky fur.

All of a sudden he remembered something. Cheerfully he pulled a ball of yarn—almost exactly the same shade as Ichigo's red hair—from nowhere, loosing a thread and dangling it in front of the kitten's nose.

"Nya!" Happily she batted at it with one paw, then paused and shook her head. (Likely that was the cat-Mew Mew's humanity reasserting itself.) The glossy little kitten leaned forward and pressed her lips against the alien boys.

Momomiya Ichigo scrunched up her nose as she dropped lightly to the ground—landing on her feet, of course. "Really? Yarn?"

Kisshu grinned. "For you, anything."

_A/N: Ahhh! I'm almost through with these. Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing!_


	26. Zoo

_A/N: Apparently there was some glitch with the system; thanks to_ _**SonicXMinagirl**__ for bringing it to my attention. So as I suppose it's not you guys' fault that no one could review the last chapter, here's the next—and last—oneshot._

Zoo

Any of the Café Mew Mew waitresses could tell you that it was exceedingly rare for their boss—Ryou Shirogane, director of the Mew Project: the reason they were there—to give them a day off, much less to take them on a "field trip."

And yet, the first thing the teenager in question said when he walked in the door was: "Let's go to the zoo."

"The zoo?" chorused all five girls: Momomiya Ichigo, Aizawa Mint, Midorikawa Lettuce, Pudding Fong, and Fujiwara Zakuro. Despite their differences, their astonishment at the blonde's words was shared and exactly the same.

"Shirogane, why—" began the redheaded cat-Mew Mew.

"Well, it _has_ been a full three years since the aliens left." Ignoring Ichigo's, Lettuce's, and Pudding's distraught expressions, Ryou continued, "Yet you five have continued to fight leftover Chimeras and other enemies, and I for one think you deserve a day of rest and celebration."

* * *

"Look! Aren't the kittens so cute?" Ichigo squealed.

"Meh. I want to look at the monkeys!" replied Pudding, who longer referred to herself in the third person or added "na no da" at the end of every sentence.

"I would like to visit the aquatic creatures—especially the porpoises," admitted Lettuce.

"Huh! Any fool knows that the birds—lorikeets in particular—are the most fascinating," Mint scoffed.

"As for me, my preference leans in the direction of the wolves. How about," suggested Zakuro, "we split up so we can all check out the animals we'd like?"

"Fine by me," Keiichiro answered before Ryou could say anything. "But I myself am rather fond of the wolves. Would you mind if I went with you?"

"Not at all," replied the wolf-Mew Mew, giving him a smile as radiant as it was rare to behold.

* * *

The birds' sanctuary was filled with the cacophony of dozens of birds flying around at the same time. Looking around cheerfully, the blue-haired girl laughed aloud in pure delight as she tried to turn in all directions at once. Though she'd said that lorikeets were the most fascinating, the fact was that Mint loved all birds. "They're all so adorable!" she gushed.

"Oh, I don't know about that."

Turning to glare at the young man who'd inexplicably followed her, Mint scowled. "Then what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see the most adorable bird of all."

"What—"

But before she could finish the question, Ryou's lips were on hers. Without consciously deciding to, the petite young woman laced her fingers together, winding her arms around the back of his neck and pulling him closer—her secret crush for years.

* * *

"I do not understand why water creatures would leap into the air."

The green-haired girl turned from her favorite animals with a quiet gasp. "Pai-san!"

His usually serious eyes may or may not have held more life than usual. "Hello, Lettuce-san."

"It's been years—how have you been? How are you here? Are Taruto and Kisshu with you? And—"

Neither of them could ever quite recall the exact sequence of events afterwards, but somehow they ended up locked in a tight embrace, lips together and fingers wound into each other's braids. Unlikely as it seemed, both somehow managed to forget their customary shyness as they lost themselves in each other.

* * *

"Taru-Ta—! I mean, Taruto. Hi." With unusual restraint, the once-ultrahyper monkey-Mew Mew waved briefly at her once-best friend. "How have you been?"

"I—I'm fine." The no-longer-pigtailed alien now-teenager was taken aback by the changes in the girl who stood before him. "And you?"

"Pretty good—well, I missed you lots."

His eyes lit up. "Really? I—I missed you too!"

Somehow, without being quite aware of doing it, he leaned down and gently pressed his lips to hers. Before consciously deciding to do it, she sighed contentedly and pulled him closer. "Taru-Taru... You're still the same as you always were."

He grinned, drawing back teasingly. "So are you. By the way... Got any candy for me?"

* * *

"Yo, Koneko-chan."

The redhead whirled, surprise and not a little happiness mixing on her face. "Kisshu! Wow—you've... grown."

"So've you." The mocking amusement in his voice was familiar—in a strangely comforting way. His golden eyes raked her body up and down, over and over. Clearly, the aggravating alien teen would never get tired of watching the girl he wished was his girlfriend. "Ne, Koneko-chan, would it be déjà vu if I-?"

Changing his mind about asking, the green-haired young man swooped down to steal a kiss from his Koneko-chan, just as he had the very first time they'd met.

Unlike the first time, though, she ended up tugging him closer, slim fingers tangling in his forest-green hair. Quietly she whispered his name.

He blinked, confusion in his amber eyes. "What about the stu—the treehugger?"

She shook her head. "He dumped me last year. It's okay," the redhead added quickly upon seeing the murderous expression on the alien boy's face. "Truly, I'm fine—it just gave me a chance to see the truth: that the one I really loved, and the one who really loved me... Well, let's just say that Aoyama and I weren't meant to be." Smiling happily, Ichigo twined her arms around the alien teen's neck with a content sigh.

_A/N: Thanks to everyone for your longtime support and flattering reviews. I may or may not write more TMM fics, but I promise that I'll finish the ones I've started—eventually. (Doing otherwise would be unforgiveable, as I've gotten rid of "Another World." I do apologize if you were really interested in that fic.) Anyway, it's been a great 26 chapters, and thanks again for reading._


End file.
